At present syringes are used to impart one or more of a range of medicines into a patient to effect a medical treatment. Their use though needs to be accurate.
Throughout this document and the claims the term “medicine” includes therapeutic, pharmaceutical, nutrient or medicinal material but also includes material which is used as physiologically effective agents or treatment agents including stimulants, coagulants etc.
It is important that the correct medicine at the correct dosage is applied. Therefore the syringe is provided with a dosage chamber with detailed graduations so that an accurate measurement can be taken. The dosage chamber usually needs to be filled with a combination of the medicine at a known concentration and a dosage solution for diluting the medicine to the required application concentration. Often this dosage solution is merely purified water or a medical quality saline solution.
Ampoules are generally used as the secure sealed method of providing highly concentrated and accurately concentrated medicines. These ampoules are monitored exactly at the place of manufacture and then accounted for with high degree of security at distribution areas such as hospitals or other medical outlets. This high control is maintained for a number of reasons including:                a) as a safety issue, due to the possible highly toxic nature of the medicine if incorrectly used,        b) due to the high value on illegal drug distributions channels for misuse on non-medicinal purposes        c) but also in order to maintain and monitor efficacy due to expiry dates of the medicines.        
One usual method of use of ampoules is a single use ampoule. This could be a glass ampoule having a main body and a thin neck. The ampoule is therefore clearly sealed and able to show no tampering. Therefore there is a clear knowledge of type of medicine, quality, amount and concentration. The ampoule can then be broken by breaking the neck and the hypodermic needle inserted to withdraw the contents. Separate single or multi use ampoules or other containers contain the dosage solution of purified water or a medical quality saline solution or other suitable solution. The correct amount of dosage solution can be inserted or drawn into the dosage chamber of the syringe.
However it is often necessary for the preparation of syringe with the dosage chamber filled with the required dosage of medicine and at a known concentration and a dosage solution for diluting the medicine to the required application concentration to be undertaken at a time earlier than its use and by someone else other than the treating medic. This could be the assisting ambulance officer or nurse or other paramedic or other qualified medicine dispensary person at a hospital or medical practice.
Delays can occur between the preparation of the syringe of the required medicine at the required dosage and the use of the syringe to administer the medicine. This can result from other treatment being required first or due to the physical situation of treatment that ambulance officers meet when attending accidents or other emergencies such as traffic accidents, industrial accidents, household accidents and medical emergencies. Further there can be the need for multiple treatments requiring multiple syringes of different medicines at different dosages. Still further multiple syringes could be needed as there are multiple patients at the same accident or emergency and being treated by the same treating medic.
Fundamentally though it is essential that the treating medic, whether an ambulance officer, paramedic, doctor or other physician must be fully aware and check the medicine before administering it. This includes checking that a previously prepared syringe containing a volume of a medicine is in fact drawn from an identifiable source and confirm correct medicine for treatment of a given patient at a given time.
It can be seen that where time is consumed in an emergency situation by having to identify a pre-prepared treatment, any delay in administering a treatment could potentially be fatal.
The present invention seeks to provide a syringe, an irremovable attachment to a syringe or an improved method of identification which will overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to at least provide an alternative.
It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.